AUTHOR | HISTORIAN | ARTIST

ancwritingresources:

What I hear most often from writers switching from short fiction to novels is: how do you stay invested for the long haul? How do you care about the same story for the time it takes to finish an entire book?

As someone who began with novel writing and never really mastered the art of the short story, I’ve always had the opposite question (how do you keep it to a minimum? how do you condense your ideas into just a few pages). But this doesn’t mean I’ve never had that age old book commitment problem. Even the best stories can drift away from us, and even the most dedicated writers will experience the occasional hiccup in their writing schedule. Too much time away–whether it be a busy schedule, a new child, an illness, or just general lack of inspiration–it can make coming back to the book after a writing drought seem impossible. You sit down in front of your story, see these words so old you hardly remember writing them in the first place, and think, how can I possibly keep going? 

Coming back to an old story can feel a lot like a high school reunion: bumping into people you once knew so well but who have now become strangers, and now you hardly know to strike up a conversation. But just like a reunion, you have two choices: runaway and give up on the relationship for good, or force the smalltalk until you break into something real. If you’re lucky, by the end of the night, you can be laughing and having a great time, saying it’s like things “never changed at all” before you’re through. A book is the same way. 

Just as we bring up “the good ‘ol times” in conversations, it’s important to revisit what made you write the book in the first place. Some things that have helped me have included: 

• Taking notes of my character’s planned emotional and physical arcs over the course of the book. This way if I lose investment or take too much time away and begin to lose that connection to their emotional state, I can return to my notes and see where I wanted them to be and start to understand their state of mind again and their purpose in my story. 
• Take notes of your planned plot or, if you’re not a structured planner, some things you hope to happen in the story or directions you might like it to go. This will be your road map later if you get lost along the way. 
• Make a playlist (or other art form, if you’re a painter, poet, etc.) that reminds you of your story. Listening to these songs later can help you to revisit the mindset you were in while writing and spark that creativity. 
• Go back and reread some of your older, already written chapters. This can help you to remember what the tone of the story was and how the dialogue was sounding. If you don’t and take a long break in the story, there’s a large chance that your story will end up disjointed with two separate narrative styles and tones that will be jarring for the readers (and yourself as you read it back later). This can also trigger the memory of how it felt to write this story last time and to hopefully help you to continue writing it again. 
• Practice writing a scene with your character(s) that won’t make it into the book. Jumping right back into the novel can seem daunting at times, so it may help to open a new document and write a random event just for practice on regaining and writing your character. Other useful exercises might include an interview, biography, or sample social media account for your character if applicable. 
• Just keep writing. Sometimes you have to write something terrible to break through to something good. But don’t worry. The delete button exists for a reason, and the editing process will be a lifesaver down the line. 

To all the writers out there: how do you keep yourself focused and interested during the course of writing a novel? Do you have any tips for maintaining writing momentum?

Feel free to add to this post or submit your own advice to share with your fellow writers at ancwritingresources.tumblr.com

eight-immortals:

端午节/Duanwu Festival also known as the Dragon Boat Festival has a history of over 2000 years! There are many sayings of the origin of this festival, however, the most well known is that this festival has been held in honor of Chinese patriotic poet and statesman Qu Yuan (340 – 278 BC).

The Legend:

As a minister in the State of Chu – one of the seven Warring States, Qu Yuan was a patriotic poet who wrote a lot of works to show his care and devotion to his country. Composing masterpieces like Li Sao (The Lament), he was regarded as one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. After he was exiled by the king, he chose to drown himself in the river rather than seeing his country invaded and conquered by the State of Qin. He died on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, thus people decided to commemorate him on that day every year.

Traditions and Customs:

Zongzi:

This day is celebrated by eating Zongzi, a pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in reed leaves. It has various fillings such as jujube, meat, bean paste, etc. 

Where did this customs come from?

It is said that when Qu Yuan drowned, many people went looking for his body, but his body was never found. People were worried that the fish would eat Qu Yuan’s body so they made Zongzi to lure the fish away. 

(Homemade Zongzi by me)

Dragon Boat Racing:

Legend holds that the race originates from the idea of the people who rowed their boats to save Qu Yuan after he drowned himself. Now it has turned to be a sport event not only held in China but also observed in Japan, Vietnam, Britain, and other countries. 

（sources: travelchina, dianliwenmi.com)

spoonofconsciousness:

The Only Way To Make Your Dreams Come True

Everyone who has gone down in the history books as someone who achieved something extraordinary started off where you are right now – they had an idea. We all have ideas but few of us actually work on them – hence why so few people achieve their goals.

The only difference between those who have succeeded and you is that they executed every day until they brought their idea into reality. This requires time, dedication and effort – which you are capable of using. The question is – are you prepared to give up “chilling” to do it?

Whatever it is you want to achieve – stop dreaming about it and start doing. We live in a day and age where anything is possible. We have instant communication with people all over the world and information is at our fingertips at all times.

Stop watching so much TV, stop watching so many videos, stop reading so many books and start doing.

If you want to have a successful YouTube channel – start making videos.

If you want to be a successful author – start writing books.

If you want to be a movie star – start acting.

So many of you are sitting around thinking instead of doing and this is why you won’t achieve your goals. No one else will tell you this because they’re under the same illusion. Wake up and start doing before it’s too late and you become bitter about how you wasted your life.

The distractions you love so much will always be there – the TV shows will be available to stream and on DVD, those clubs will still be there in 5 years & those videos will still be online. But this time will never come around again – it’s up to you to use it to make something of your life. 

Stop thinking and start doing – this is the only way to succeed.

Peace & positive vibes.